Mariano Guardianelli

Mariano Guardianelli’s journey started from afar: in Arroyito di Cordoba, a small village in North-Central Argentina surrounded by endless fields and far away from everything. The chef, born in 1983 and of recognisable Italian origins, first learnt the importance of food and of cooking from his grandmothers. At 20 he started to cook in the catering school close to home. He felt that place was too small for his ambitions, however, so he moved to Miami, to find out what working in a professional kitchen was like.

This experience still didn’t thrill him, so he took another plane, to Spain: first stop, Cà Sento, which at that time was a prominent restaurant in Valencia, then he went to Gerona, to Celler de Can Roca, where he fell in love with the rhythm of the Roca’s cuisine. The Iberian peninsula made him more aware, and so did the meeting with Camilla Corbelli, a cook who’s also travelled around the globe, who soon became his partner in life and in crime.

They decided to return to Italy – he acquired experience at La Buca in Cesenatico and at Enrico Crippa’s Piazza Duomo – with a stop in France too, first in Arles, and then in Paris with David Toutain.

As a result, he acquired a cosmopolitan vision thanks to which the Abocar due cucine project was born in the historic centre of Rimini in 2013. It got a Michelin star in the 2019 edition. Abocar means making close: making two lands close, Italy and Argentina, in a mix of influences between places and ingredients, attracting clients who are curious to find out about food with a direct style, a pure use of techniques, of raw materials, and a cuisine that pays attention to roots, memories and knowledge.

A vocation to explore beyond every boundary which Mariano turns into original dishes that change often in a menu that truly follows the seasons, making the best use of them. And which takes his guests on a small part of his journey. 

He’s a speaker at Identità Milano 2019.